


Change

by Karl_Writes



Category: TF2 - Fandom, Team Fortress 2
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Monsters, Past Abuse, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:09:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 20,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25152169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karl_Writes/pseuds/Karl_Writes
Summary: This is a story about a Scientist who made many mistakes, however that does not mean he is not capable of becoming a better person, especially since he finally receives the help he desperately needed all along.
Relationships: Heavy/Medic (Team Fortress 2), Sniper/Spy (Team Fortress 2)
Comments: 66
Kudos: 100





	1. A friendly face

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this doesn’t suck I’m not a very experienced writer
> 
> Oh and side note I will be editing previous chapters on occasion as I write more and get new ideas, not by much though, mainly just details and stuff like that.

Mundy followed the doctor down the hall. He did not care for his superior and he’d only been assigned to him for less than three hours. He rambled on and on and he did not seem like the most mentally stable person.

“Now vith zhe new developments in our research ve have reason to believe zhe creature is sentient and may have even been human at one point or another. Zhe only problem is that it hasn’t been responding to any stimuli so ve need someone to go in there and try to communicate vith it.”

“That would be me?”

“Ja! You catch on very quickly! And as a precaution we have a collar on zhe zhing if it tries to take it off or cause you any harm it will emit a sound at a frequency that causes it incredible pain!”

“That’s... comforting.”

“Isn’t it! Oh! Here already. Vell it vas nice knowing you.”

And with that Ludwig shoved Mundy in the room with the mysterious potentially deadly creature.

Mundy fell face first into water. Luckily it was only knee deep. At least for him it was. He quickly jumped up and found himself face to face with it. The creature appeared to be a normal person except wearing a mask. But the mask looked shiny almost like it wasn’t even real. His appearance was somewhat normal except as Mundy looked down his body became a mess of tentacles. It quickly backed up against the wall and let out a hiss.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.”

The creature coiled his tentacles the looked ready to strike him if he came any closer.

“I just want to talk to you.”

It slightly lowered them but still kept his guard up.

“Yeah that’s it. I was told that you can think. Is that true?”

He nodded.

“Yes! That’s great.”

He looked disappointed he then fully submerged himself under the water.

“Wh-what did I do?”

A speaker suddenly screeched to life, “vhat you were supposed to do dummkopf. Now get out of there.”

“Wait do you think I can talk to him a little more?”

“... I suppose it wouldn’t hurt... just remember I’m watching you!”

“Will do boss.” Mundy sighed.

He inched closer to the creature and eventually he was less than five feet away from him until he shot out of the water causing Mundy to jump back and fall down. The creature made a noise that almost sounded like laughter.

“You spooked me! Wait that’s it I’m going to call ya Spook!”

“Spook” rolled his eyes and sunk down a little.

“So you can really understand me.”

Spook nodded looking very unimpressed.

“Oh I’m Mundy by the way and I’ve been wondering can you talk?”

Spook shrugged.

“I think we can understand each other enough right now and I bet I could teach you how to talk. I mean if you even have vocal cords. We don’t know much about you anatomy.”

Spook completely submerged himself again.

The speaker came on again, “I believe zhat’s enough for today. I vant you to come to my lab we have much to discuss.”

“Yes boss.” Mundy left the room somewhat reluctantly. He didn’t want to leave Spook alone and he especially didn’t want to talk to Ludwig anymore. Part of him just wanted to spend the rest of they day with Spook. Something just made him want to know more about him. He hoped he’d be able to talk to him again soon. 

Mundy made his way to Ludwig’s Lab. He didn’t know what there was to discuss he’d already been watching them the whole time. He knocked on the door.

“Still alive I see, come in!” 

Why was he so enthusiastic Mundy thought. He nodded.

“It’s strange zhat it seems to be so friendly vith you. Every time I have come into contact with it, it tends to be extremely aggressive or it does its best to avoid me, probably because of all the limbs I have removed.”

Sniper choked, “REMOVED WHAT?”

“I don’t believe I misspoke, limbs. It’s regenerative capabilities are extraordinary. I only have removed the tentacles however. Further testing vill influence my decision on if I’m going to remove the more humanoid parts.”

“Why are you doing this can’t you see he’s sentient?”

“Yes it’s very clear to me however I’m the head scientist of this facility and as you can see it’s not human vhich means I can do vhatever experiments I please on it.”

“Stop calling him it.”

“Oh yes zhat reminds me, you have given it a name. You really shouldn’t do zhat. You’re going to become attached and vhat is going to happen to it will become even more painful. For you at least.”

“You can’t just do this Spook is not-“

“Vhat he is or isn’t is not for you to decide and zhe only reason I vill allow you to communicate with the creature again is because it has bonded with you. Now get out before you say anything else you will most definitely regret!”

Mundy stormed out and slammed the door behind him. ‘Who does he think he is?’ He thought. He was so angry that he didn’t even realize he was already at his camper. He walked in and slammed the door then immediately apologized to it. He loved that vehicle not just because of its had been with him for more than fifteen years now but also because he was already home. The lab didn’t make him move his camper at night so he just kept it parked there, made getting up for work so much easier.

Mundy tried to sleep but the thought of Spook being hurt kept him awake. He wanted so desperately to just be able to check on him and see if he was alright. What if he’d been the only positive interaction that he had the the whole time he was in the facility. The thought broke his heart.

Ones sleepless night later he reported to work. The nice lady at the front desk jumped as soon as she saw him. 

“Dr.Humboldt wants to see you immediately. He says it’s important.”

“Great.” He mumbled angrily under his breath.


	2. An unpleasant experience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow Ludwig is a bitch

The doctor managed a pleasant expression, “Mr.Mundy I’m afraid we started with the vrong impression of each other yesterday and for zhat I am truly sorry.”

Mundy nodded.

“I bould just like you to know that I am a man of science and I vill do anyzhing to get zhe answers I am seeking, so vith zhat in mind please do not become to attached to the creature. It could cloud your judgement.”

Mundy clutched his fists before nodding.

“Good! Now you vill visit zhe creature again. Just act as you did last time.” And with that Ludwig opened the door to the enclosure and this time did not push him forward and instead let him walk in on his own.

“Hey there buddy!”

Spook came up to him this time. He didn’t look unfriendly just curious.

“Remember me from yesterday?”

He nodded.

“That’s great. I missed ya!”

Spook pointed at Mundy’s eyes.

“Oh you noticed my dark circles. Yeah I didn’t sleep very well last night.”

Spook tilted his head.

“Oh sleep is when you close your eyes all-“

He shook his head.

“Oh uh... you want to know why I didn’t sleep?”

He nodded.

“Well... I guess it was cause I was worried about you. It must be hard being alone in here all night.”

Spook pointed at the door.

“Oh! Oh yeah I’m sorry I can’t take you with me. But I could try and make it more entertaining for you while you’re here.”

Spook looked disappointed.

“Hey don’t be sad I told you as long as I can I’ll do my best to make it better for you.”

Spook gave him a sad smile.

“See this may not be the ocean but I’m here and I bet I could teach you how to talk!- wait is that okay?”

“Ja!” The doctor said from the speaker and Spook nodded.

Mundy was in there for hours with little progress. Spook didn’t even know how to make a noise other that hissing. And when Mundy was about to give up it finally happened.

“Mu-mun-“

“What?”

“Mundy?” It was almost a whisper but Mundy heard it clear as day.

“You did it! You said my name!” He through his arms around Spook and surprised him. Mundy let go immediately, “I’m so sorry I should have-“

The speaker crackled to life, “Mr.Mundy please see me immediately.”

Mundy left the room without even saying goodbye. Spook submerged himself again he didn’t know what he did wrong. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was underwater you could clearly see that he was crying. 

Mundy practically ran to Ludwig’s office. He knew that the Doctor would be upset after all the “Do not get attached” talk. Mundy opened the door and saw him sitting with a dove on his shoulder.

“Do you remember vhat I told you?” His eyes were impossible to see through the glare on his glasses which made him appear even more threatening.

“Y-yes.” He mumbled.

“Speak up dummkopf!” The doctor snarled.

“Yes sir!”

“Good,“ He got up and the bird fluttered off somewhere, “Now I vould like to inform you zhat you could possibly be covered in toxic slime that will slowly dissolve you.”

“What?!?” Mundy nearly fell over.

“Don’t be a baby. Zhe chances of zhat are low considering zhe fact zhat It likes you. But you should probably take a shower as soon as possible just in case.”

Mundy nodded.

“You can go now. Take zhe rest of the day off,” a grin came across his face, “It might be your last.” 

Mundy left the room as quickly as possible as soon as he shut the door he could have sworn he heard Ludwig laughing, and he thought his old bosses were bad.

As soon as Mundy made it to his camper he took a long shower. Just in case. He never really did take showers in the camper. It wasted a lot of water but, this time was an exception.

Meanwhile the doctor laughed he couldn’t stop. He thought his remark was exceptionally funny. But he then remembered the problem he had to deal with. 

“Archimedes, make sure zhe lab is safe while I’m gone.” Ludwig said as he pickedup a small remote.

The bird cooed. 

Ludwig made his way to the enclosure where the creature was kept. He opened the door and walked inside.

“So you can understand me.” 

Spook went to the opposite side of the enclosure, trying to avoid the doctor.

“You’ve been very bad and you know it.” His finger hovered over the button on the remote.

Spook shuddered and covered his ears.

“Oh what are you afraid that I’ll do zhis!” He pushed it.

The poor creature shuddered and tried to remove the collar. He thrashed about as a noise that no one else could hear made him want to rip his head apart.

“Despite vhat you may think I take no pleasure in this,” He assumed that the creature wasn’t listening, but he didn’t care, “It’s a simple punishment for misbehavior zhat is all. If you had never done zhat, you vouldn’t have to deal with this pain.” After a few more minutes he did turn it off.

Spook continued to shudder even though it was off if Ludwig wasn’t paying close attention he might have missed what he said, “Mun-Mundy.”

The Doctor burst into laughter, “You expect that idiot to save you! Pathetic! Vhatever idea you have of freedom forget it! Zhe only reason he can see you is because I allow it. Not even he is stupid enough to try to rescue you.” 

And with that Ludwig slammed the door. His laughter echoed in Spooks mind. He wanted the only kindness he could clearly remember to come back, he wanted Mundy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhh


	3. Promise?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ludwig is a b i t c h

Mundy was outside the Doctor’s lab. Yesterday he was tempted to quit but, the sad look on Spook’s face made him come back. And even though he thought that it was idiotic he was planning to break him out. Not today but, he new it had to be soon. He knocked.

“Oh! You’re still alive! Zhat’s somewhat surprising.” Ludwig set aside what ever he was working on.

“Yeah, still alive, I bet you’re not to happy about that.”

“Oh nonsense. I like you, and I bet vith enough discipline and effort you vill make a great scientist like myself. And besides I need you for this project. It vould have been an extreme setback if you had died.” Ludwig then picked up a syringe that contained a strange looking liquid.

“W-what’s that?” Mundy stepped back.

“I’m glad you asked! It vas made from the creature’s blood.”

“WHAT?”

“Like I said you are too attached anyvay it’s some sort of- vhat are the vords I’m looking for- Oh! It speeds up the evolutionary process to an extremely rapid rate and basically fuses two or possibly more DNA from different species. At least that’s what the test indicate. I’m certain that somezhing like zhis made zhe creature in the way It is. And I’m fairly certain zhis will peak your interest.” Ludwig walked to the back of the room and returned with a rabbit had a lizard’s tail and other features that did not look right.

“W-why are you doing this?” Mundy said as horror creeped into his voice.

“Science my friend.”

“I’m not your friend.”

“Fine then colleague, you can see your real friend again.”

“I will!” Mundy left the room more unnerved that any other time before, he felt nauseous.

He made it back into the enclosure and stepped in and he suddenly didn’t feel so bad.

“Spook! Hey Spook where are you?” He didn’t see him anywhere, but he remembered that octopi could camouflage. He began to search all around the room feeling the floor and eventually he felt something and then saw a flicker of movement.

“Nice game Spook but, I found ya fair and square so stop hiding.

Spook reveled himself but, he didn’t look like his snarky and curious self. He looked scared as he huddled in the corner, he was practically shaking.

“Spook? What’s wrong. Was it the hug yesterday? I’m sorry about that, sometimes I get carried away.”

He kept shaking as salty tears began to roll down his face.

“Oh my god. Spook?” Mundy began to approach him until Spook let out a hiss.

“I’m sorry if I scared ya yesterday I promise I won’t hurt you.”

“P-pro-m-mis-se?” The word came out like as sharp hiss but somehow sounded like a gentile whisper.

“Yeah it means that I’m going to keep you safe.”

“Prom-mis Mu-nd-dy?”

“Yes I’ll do my best to make sure you’re safe all the time.”

“S-safe with yo-ou?”

“As long as I’m around you’ll be safe.”

Mundy approached Spook again this time he didn’t his and sat down beside him. Spook rubbed his throat he accidentally touched the collar and winced.

“Was that a lot of talking for you?”

Spook nodded.

“I think you did really good. We’re you practicing while I was gone?”

Spook shook his head.

“Well what do you do while I’m gone?”

Spook suddenly tensed as his eyes looked far away.

“Oh- I’m sorry you don’t want to talk anymore do you?”

Spook nodded.

“Okay well I’ll tell you about the stuff I do while I’m not here. If you would like to hear about it.”

Spook nodded.

Mundy went on and on about his parents, his life before he moved to America for work, what movies he liked, and about his camper.

“I’m sorry if that was a lot, I don’t have very many friends.”

“N-o frie-ends ei-ther.”

“I never said I didn’t have any friends- wait I guess you’re right.”

Spook pulled his body close to himself.

“What’s wrong-“

The doctor stood over them.

“Lovely conversation you vere having. I am sorry to interrupt, but I’m going to need to borrow “Spook” for a moment.”

Mundy stood up as Spook cowered underneath his legs. “No! I won’t let you.”

“Let me? I assure you Mr.Mundy you are on zhe loosing side of this battle and even if you try to fight me you vould only be hurting your dear one and only friend and neither of us want that do we, Mundy?”

“No.”

“Good now assure you’re friend zhat I’m not here to hurt him. Neither of us want to get covered in zhat poisonous liquid.”

Spook clung to Mundy’s legs his whole body quivered in fear as he tried to control his instincts. He did not want to hurt Mundy.

“Hey-hey it’s okay I promise.” Mundy tried to distract Spook as he saw Ludwig take out a syringe he was relieved when he saw it wasn’t the same liquid as before.

“You’re going to be okay. I promise.” Mundy said as Ludwig got closer.

“P-pr-prom-ise?”

“I promise.”

Ludwig then plunged the syringe into Spook’s neck. His tentacles coiled as he squirmed on the floor and then his body went still. He was unconscious. 

“Thank you Mr.Mundy, you can leave now.” Ludwig said as he picked up Spook.

“Please don’t hurt him.”

“I will not hurt It beyond repair I still need It.”

They both left the room, as soon as Mundy was alone he broke down and began to cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god oh Jesus


	4. A Broken Wing and a Twisted Leg

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey maybe Ludwig isn’t as awful as everyone thought wait oh no he still sucks

Mundy was tired of all of this. He sat in his camper planning a way to break Spook out. He knew the door would only unlock if the doctor allowed it so he’d either need to break into his lab and figure out how that worked and unlock them, rush out of there with him when Ludwig said it was time to leave, or break in when no one was looking. He decided the last option was the best and for it too work he’d need Spook’s help. He remembered the corrosive slime that Spook produced had been mentioned multiple times. Assuming that it could melt a human it could melt the metal door. Mundy then remember that only the door was made of metal the rest of the room appeared to be made of a different material.

Mundy chucked to himself. He was outsmarting the doctor. Now came the hard part. He did have the facility basically memorized, he’d just have to sneak past all the other people there. He would definitely sneak in at night and the he remembered. The vents! He was skinny and Spook could definitely squeeze in there and he was sure if they had to make a run for it he could carry Spook. Adrenaline would finally be on his side. The hardest part however was distracting the Doctor. Ludwig watched the room almost constantly but, the only thing Mundy had ever seen the doctor care about was his bird. If Ludwig cared about the dove and was as paranoid as Mundy thought his plan just might work.

Now if he could get some rest and stop worrying about that damn octopus and get some sleep he’d feel so much better but, he knew it was just wishful thinking and he had to deal with another sleepless night.

While Mundy was plotting the Doctor was doing his own work. He’d sewn the creature back up and was bringing him back to his enclosure. Suddenly the creature which he thought was properly sedated thrashed around for a moment then stopped.

Ludwig nearly lost his balance he regained his composure and continued walking forward. Unknown to him a syringe full of the odd liquid he’d extracted from the creature fell out of his pocket and onto the ground.

Mundy came to Ludwig’s office. The anxiety of what he was about to do and if he going to get caught weighed on him. He looked down at the floor, although it was bad posture he didn’t care until a shiny object caught his eye. It’s was a syringe filled with the same strange liquid Ludwig showed him. He picked it up, put in in his pocket and thought about returning it, then decided against it. The Doctor shouldn’t posses another drop of this stuff.

Mundy entered the lab. Ludwig was concentrating on some papers on his desk and his bird was on the other side of the room. Perfect.

Mundy was as quiet as possible. The Doctor didn’t notice his presence and the bird didn’t seem to mind that he was coming closer. He made a silent apology to the bird then grabbed it and made sure it was silent. Then he snapped a wing and twisted a leg just to be sure. He then set the bird on the ground and stepped away as quickly as possible and pretended like he just came in.

The bird screeched 

ARCHIMEDES!” Ludwig jumped out of his chair and screamed.

“Oh my god!” Mundy did his best to sound surprised.

Ludwig scooped the bird into his hands as tears threatened to pour out of his eyes. “DID YOU DO ZHIS?”

“N-no sir I came in and the bird was just like that. Maybe it ran into a wall.”

“Archimedes has never- vell except that one time and she is getting older. I’m sorry I accused you of zhat. I know you have a certain fondness for creatures. Oh! Yes you can see your friend again today. Although It vill probably be upset.”

“Why- never mind.” Mundy left. Dread began to creep into his mind. What had he done to Spook while he was gone?

Mundy found out soon enough. Spook wasn’t camouflaged this time and Mundy might have preferred he did. He saw a large stitch that ran from the top of his chest to where his body became tentacles and he looked scrawnier that before. Mundy looked into his eyes, he looked back and tears began to flow from Spook’s eyes.

“Y-yo-ou pro-romi-mised.” He choked out.

“I know I did I’m sorry. He forced me but, I have a pl-“

“Y-YOU PRO-ROMIS-ISED-“ Spook thrashed around until screamed in pain and froze.

“I’m sorry. I really am. I can get you out if you listen to me. You can go back to your home. I can do it if you help me.”

Spook folded in on himself trying to lessen the pain. He’d listened to every word Mundy had said and after consideration he nodded.

Mundy explained his plan and he told him he’d take care of everything. The only part he’d have to do by himself was destroy the wall. That seemed simple enough. 

“You can do it?”

“Y-ye-es.”

“You’re getting really good at talking! I’m be back in a few hours and remember-“ Mundy did his special knock on the wall for the seventh time, “That’s when you erode the wall. I’ll be back later tonight.”

Spook nodded and watched Mundy turn away. He raised on of his tentacles and patted him on the shoulder.

Mundy blushed, “Thanks buddy.” He said as he walked away 

“Wel-elcome!”

Spook had felt something he’d never known before. Hope.

Ludwig cared for his injured dove. He managed to set the fragile broken bones and now he held the poor thing to his chest as held back sobs.

Archimedes cooed even though she was hurt, she still tried to make him feel better.

That was what pushed him over the edge. Against his will tears flowed down his face. Sobs echoed around the room. He felt as though they were insulting him. If it wasn’t for Archimedes he’d be on the floor.

“I-I’m sorry I know yo-you’re getting older just please stay around longer- I need you.”

Archimedes cooed and closed her eyes. Her heart beat was as strong as ever and she was still breathing yet Ludwig was still filled with anxiety. He gently sat her down on a spare lab coat, soon after that his body began to shake uncontrollably. He hugged himself, his nails poked into his skin as his chest rose and fell rapidly.

When Ludwig was finally able to calm himself enough to stand he checked on Archimedes again. She was okay. He stroked the feathers on her head. When his hand began to shake again he stopped as a precaution to avoid hurting her. The tears had only made him feel more exhausted. He thought resting his eyes wouldn’t hurt and he proceeded to sleep for hours until he was awoken by an alarm going off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone know about foreshadowing-


	5. What He Deserves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember that syringe

Mundy did the special knock on the wall and soon it was dissolved by Spook’s acid and that’s when the alarm turned on.

“Oh shit I forgot about that-“

Spook hissed.

“I’m sorry I’m sorry just- just let me pick you up.”

Spook climbed into Mundy’s arms and Mundy started running they were near the vents until someone stepped in front of them.

Ludwig’s voice sounded unhinged and his breathing was ragged he held a bone saw in his hand, “I’ll admit Mr.Mundy you had me fooled, I thought you vere a good person who truly cared, but I see I vas wrong. I know now zhat you were planning zhis from zhe beginning and you hurt my only friend. You only care about your self and zhat zhing! I vill not let you escape!” He began cackling as he raised the saw preparing to strike.

Mundy remembered the syringe in his pocket and in a moment of pure instinct he took it out and plunged it into Ludwig’s chest.

Ludwig dropped the saw, it made a clanging sound as it hit the floor as he fell to his knees. His expression twisted between pain and terror.

“Vh-vhat have you done to me?”

“I don’t know- I’m-“

Ludwig’s whole body began to twist he cried out as Mundy began to back away. His cry then evolved into a shriek as feathers began to grow on his body. Mundy backed away quicker as Spook tensed. 

“Ludwig?” Mundy gasped.

“HELP ME!” Ludwig cried out as tears began to spill from his eyes.

Suddenly tendons and bones burst out of his back as blood bursted out, Ludwig’s screeching was no longer identifiable as human. Mundy decided he’d seen enough and began to run for the nearest exit.

“Shit, shit, shit-“ Mundy repeated as the screeching from down the hall only got louder.

After what felt like hours Mundy finally made it to his van. He still let Spook cling to him. His chest rose and fell rapidly. He was adjusting to breathing on land pretty well Mundy though, but he remembered he had to drive. He turned the key and drove out of that parking lot as fast as he could and even faster once he got on a straight road. Once he had a chance to calm down he spoke again.

“Are you okay?”

Spook nodded.

“Good.”

“Are y-ou?”

“I’ll be okay, how about you try and get some rest. You can sleep right here if you want.”

Spook nodded and wrapped his tentacles and arms around him. It was harder to drive ,but hecould manage. He felt free nothing was ahead of him except the open road.

Mundy had been driving for hours, exhaustion was beginning to catch up with him. He eventually found an empty parking lot and tried to find the most secluded place there. Even though Spook was sleeping he had a firm grip on him. Mundy tried to get out of the seat without waking him but, it was no use.

Spook jumped a little and tightened his grip.

“It’s okay, we aren’t going to far,” Mundy began rubbing his hand in circles on Spook’s back, “I’d just like to sleep in my bed.”

Spook relaxed and let Mundy carry him, he still refused to let go even when he laid down.

“You’re a little clingy aren’t you?”

Spook shook his head and began to back away.

“W-wait I never said that was a bad thing.”

Spook didn’t move any closer or further from him. 

“Well I’m going to try to get some rest. ‘Night Spook.”

“Nig-ht.”

Mundy’s breathing began to slow and Spook felt his heartbeat do the same. He was happy. However he couldn’t sleep now so he watched Mundy. It might sound boring or creepy but, Spook found Mundy fascinating. No one had ever made him feel exactly like he did. It was odd. The first time he saw him his heart quickened, he felt hot, and on edge. Things began to change. He didn’t understand why Mundy had risked so much to save him, but he did and he was forever grateful.

There was one more thing he didn’t understand. Why that man in the glasses was so awful. What had he done wrong? Was it just that he looked different or did the doctor truly hate him. He didn’t know. However the thought that he could still be out there searching for them, truly horrified him. He began to huddle a little closer to Mundy and tried to push the thought from his head. That dumb bird couldn’t find them if he tried and Spook hoped that he couldn’t even search for them. Instead he’d be locked up like he had been, suffering every single day.

Spook smirked. He knew what wanted was awful but, it was what that man deserved. 

He was finally feeling tired. He snuggled up to Mundy and tried to get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He’s fine


	6. I’m sorry?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone ask for Mundy’s trauma?

Mundy was abruptly awoken when the sun had barely risen in the sky, Spook was shaking and making soft hissing noises as he seemed to struggle against something.

The collar. He kept tugging at it more and more violently, Mundy spoke and he stopped.

“Is it hurting you? Let me get it off.”

He nodded.

Mundy began to tug and pull at the thing, but it wouldn’t budge, it seemed to only hurt Spook. Finally he began to search the van and found some pliers.

He cut the thing off and stomped on it, “Better?”

“Yes.” 

Mundy collected the remains and through them away and Spook looked satisfied. He never wanted to see the collar again.

Mundy was happy too. He wanted Spook to forget everything horrible that had happened to him. He wanted it to be as if Ludwig had never touched him. Mundy jolted, he’d forgotten about him. The words “Help me” and horrified screeching echoed in his mind. His heart wrenched. Even though what the doctor had done was horrible he didn’t deserve that. No one deserved that. He remembered how he truly cared for his bird and something in him began to hurt even more as he realized what had happened to Ludwig was all his fault. He stumbled and pushed himself onto the bed where Spook was. He felt sick.

“Wh-at’s wrong?”

“Oh nothing, just a feel a little queasy.”

“Hug?” Spook tilted his head.

“A hug would be great.”

Spook wrapped his whole body around him and cuddled him. It felt so nice especially when Mundy hugged him back. He smiled maybe what he did to the doctor was worth it.

It had been close to an hour, Spook still refused to let go of him. Mundy wasn’t particularly upset about it and wouldn’t mind staying like that for a few more hours, sadly they needed to keep moving. He didn’t know if anyone was searching for them, however he still wanted to be safe.

“Spook I like this almost as much as you do, but we need to get moving. So could you please get off me?”

Spook sighed and rolled over dramatically.

“Thanks buddy.”

Mundy drove for hours. Spook was becoming particularly bored, his skin felt itchy and dry. His eyes drifted to the sink. He was no imbecile he had seen Mundy use it before and knew it produced water.

He clumsily made his way over to it, turned it on, and tried to cover as much of himself with water as possible.

“You okay back there?” 

Spook froze and turned the faucet off, “Yes.”

“Okay mate.”

Spook forced himself back into the small boring bed and stared at the ceiling.

More time passed, Spook sighed as dramatically and loudly as he could, which in truth was not very loud. Still it was loud enough to get Mundy’s attention.

“What is it?”

“Where?”

“Where? Oh where are we going! I actually don’t know it’s just we need to get away from that lab. Maybe we could get you to the ocean. That’s where your from right?”

“Ye-es.”

Going “home” didn’t appeal to Spook anymore. The ocean was never really his home, just a place he lived in. Mundy’s camper on the other hand. That felt like home. 

Mundy kept driving until he was exhausted. The sun had set hours ago and he was in desperate need of a break. He parked the van, walked to the back, and flopped himself onto the bed. Spook snuggled close tog him and realized he had already fallen asleep, he ran his fingers through his hair, it was so soft. He never wanted to go back to the ocean, he wanted stay like this forever.

Mundy was back in the lab, he had no idea how he got there and Spook was nowhere to be found. He realized that the entire lab was empty and the silence was beginning to swallow him whole, until he heard a noise. It was an overwhelmingly loud shriek.

“W-who’s there? Spook is that you?” His voice quivered as he walked towards the place where the sound originated.

The screeching got louder and more frequent as he got closer, until he found it, until he found Him.

Ludwig was on the floor as the horribly mutated creature he last saw, he looked up, saw Mundy, and stopped screeching. Mundy saw a collar around his neck the same kind as Spook’s.

“Help me.” Ludwig begged.

“I don’t know how I can try to get the collar off-“

“Help me!” He didn’t seem to hear him.

“I don’t know how!”

“Help me! Help me! HELP ME!” He shrieked and lunged for Mundy’s throat.

Mundy woke up in a cold sweat, he was safe, Spook was snuggling with him, but tears flowed from his eyes nonetheless. He pulled Spook closer to himself as he began to sob. Spook woke up and a pain he had never known irrupted in his chest.

“N-o do not cr-cry,” He began running his hands through Mundy’s hair, “Sa-safe I prom-mise.”

Mundy couldn’t stop, the stress had finally caught up with him, the nightmare was just the breaking point, “I’m sorry.” He began to repeat over and over again.

Spook didn’t know how to respond, why would Mundy apologize to him? All he’d ever done was help him. He kept trying to console him, eventually he cried himself out and his eyes began to feel heavier than ever. 

“Better?”

“Yeah I’m better now, thank you.”

Spook nodded and pulled Mundy a little closer to himself.

As Mundy drifted back into unconsciousness he began to wonder what happened to Ludwig.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sure you all are wondering what happened to our favorite dove-like doctor


	7. Friends of a Feather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is fine

It was late and in the day and Misha had heard something fall from the sky. It was extremely obvious because all of the screeching. He searched the woods for whatever had made that horrifying noise. After half an hour he found what he was looking for. It looked like a large bird that had its wings covering his face with its back up against a tree. He could have sworn he heard it making a soft whining noise. It almost sounded human. Upon closer examination he saw one of its wings was bent at an odd angle and one of its legs appeared to be twisted. He slowly approached it and it didn’t seem to notice him. He was about four feet away when he announced his presence.

“Hello?”

The creature jumped back it’s chest falling up and down rapidly. Misha finally saw its face. His face. He appeared to be a middle aged man who was scared out of his mind. He stood up to his full height he was still shorter than Misha but his long claws could definitely cause some damage.

The man was wearing the tattered remains of what look to be a lab coat and torn pants. He screeched until his face twisted in agony and yelped as he fell back to ground. 

Misha bent down he was at a safe distance from him, “Not going to hurt you.”

The man forced himself back to the tree and brought his injured leg closer to himself.

“Can you understand me?”

He hesitated then nodded.

“Want to help. Can do that if you let me.” Misha held out his hand.

The man hesitated for a few moments ultimately he accepted the offer.

Misha was relived he’d feel terrible if he left him out there to die. He picked up the man trying to be gentle and avoid his wings. Yet it unnerved him that he looked so scared. Then he realized that he didn’t even know who or what this man was.

“Who are you?”

He jumped at the noise but then registered the question and finally spoke, “I- I am Ludwig.” His voice sounded high pitched and strained like the words were hard for him to say.

“That is good name. I am Misha.”

Ludwig nodded he liked his name too he just didn’t know if he could say it.

They finally made it back to Misha’s small cabin. It wasn’t much just a small bed, a bathroom and a fire place.

“I am going to set your broken bones so they will heal correctly.” Misha was fairly certain about setting the leg, but he would have to guess the wing.

Ludwig nodded. He lurched as the leg was set back into place. He somehow kept himself quiet the whole time. The wing was going to be much harder but, Misha figured that he couldn’t make it much worse than it already was. This time Ludwig was not able to keep himself quiet. He let out a loud screech that almost scared Misha.

“I’m sorry!”

“That is normal reaction you have nothing to apologize for.”

Ludwig looked down and made a soft whining noise in the back his throat. He nodded looking slightly more relaxed.

Misha interrupted the silence. “Would you like to sleep on the bed. I do not mind sleeping on the floor.”

“Vhat? You live here I can sleep on zhe floor, alzhough zhe bed does look big enough for-“ Ludwig suddenly squawked and covered his mouth.

“Are you alright?” Misha looked concerned 

Ludwig nodded keeping his hand over his mouth. 

Then Misha looked slightly smug, “About the size of bed?”

Even though feathers covered some of his face Misha could see Ludwig was blushing, “It vas merely an observation. If we both vanted to hypothetically sleep in zhe bed we could.” 

“You have good idea, Ludwig.” Misha grinned. 

“Vhat ever I vill sleep on zhe floor.”

“No, you are hurt need to be comfortable.”

“Zhis is your cabin and I have managed fine sleeping on the ground before.”

“Yes remember seeing you on the ground you looked like you were managing fine.” Sarcasm laced Misha’s voice.

“Zhat vas different!” He squawked and folded his arms.

“Very different.” Misha agreed and then he gently picked him up off the floor.

“Vhat are you doing?”

Misha didn’t answer and then placed him on the bed. “Would you like to share or not?”

“I-it would be nice to have some company.”

Misha nodded and laid down beside him. The bed creaked it normally didn’t hold this much weight. The bed was large but the two men combined weren’t small either and Ludwig had to keep his one broken wing stretched out or the pain would become agonizing. They both struggled to keep on there sides of the bed Misha almost fell off a a few times, as the night wore on they both didn’t care if they touched. It was strange for Misha to feel all the feathers on Ludwig’s arm, however he didn’t find it unpleasant.

Ludwig fell asleep due to exhaustion. Flying for days without rest and his injuries had taken its toll. Misha watched him, he could not sleep. His mind swarmed with questions. He wanted to know what happened to him. Surely he couldn’t have been born like this. He was wearing a tattered lab coat. It could have been an experiment that went wrong that made him this way. He didn’t want to push him now, the poor man had already been through so much. His thoughts were interrupted by Ludwig crying out, he was having a nightmare and Misha didn’t have an idea about what to do. It had been a long time since he was around people much less bird people. He decided to pat his head. His feathers felt like they were standing on end. He did seem to be calmer now. Misha stopped and he too fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes the two people and one bed trope


	8. An Empty Tune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Are y’all conflicted about Ludwig yet?

Misha woke up to a soft melodic tune it almost sounded like singing. He opened his eyes and saw Ludwig sitting up he was rocking slightly, he looked distressed, and he had his hand covering his ears. It must be his instincts that caused him to sing. Misha heard the other bird’s morning songs must be triggering this. 

Misha sat up and and reached for Ludwig’s arm. He looked startled as he uncovered his ears.

“It will be okay. You can sing will not bother me.”

Ludwig nodded he sang with the other birds for at least half an hour. Misha found the song oddly beautiful.

“I’m sorry. My instincts are hard for me to control.”

“Your song does not bother me. It sounds... pretty.”

“Y-you really zhink zhat?”

“If I did not think it was beautiful I would not tell you.”

“Vell... thank you.”

Misha nodded and got out of bed. He normally did not wake up this early.

“What would you like to eat. Birdseed?” Misha added jokingly.

“You have bird seed?” Ludwig asked sounding hopeful.

Misha realized his mistake. “Errr no.”

“Oh.” Ludwig sounded disappointed.

“Have dried corn.”

“Zhat would be nice.”

Misha tried not to stare but it was hard to look away as he ate handfuls of dried corn is such a violent manner. He didn’t notice how sharp this man’s teeth were until now. Ludwig noticed him staring and stopped eating. 

“Th-thank you. I’m sorry if that was disturbing.”

“Not at all. Have seen much worse.” 

Ludwig felt nauseous he hadn’t eaten this much in weeks his stomach had shrunk much more than he had realized and the stress of causing Misha any sort of trouble was bothering him. Ludwig looked to see if he was watching, he wasn’t. He began plucking his feathers. It truly didn’t hurt that much plunking one but there were so many. They were everywhere he didn’t understand how Misha could deal with him being so ugly. He hated this. He hated the feathers he wanted them gone. He needed them gone. He felt them poking out of his skin they all hurt so much. Everyone of them felt like a tiny needle. The only temporary relief was them being out of his skin. He kept plucking. His entire chest was almost cleared of them.

“What are you doing?”

Ludwig squawked, “O-oh zhis I’m j-just-“

“Why are you hurting yourself?”

“N-nien you do not understand, zhe feathers zhat’s vhat’s hurting me. Zhis wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“What wasn’t supposed to happen?” 

“You being distressed.” Ludwig lied.

Misha sighed and sat down,”How did you become this way?”

Ludwig gulped he did not want to talk about it.

“No matter what happened I will not be upset.”

Ludwig was about to speak but he suddenly froze as he remembered the syringe plunging into his chest, How his heart rate increased to such a speed it felt like it might burst, his body no longer being under his control as the wings burst through his skin, the feathers destroying his hair follicles and being filled with feathers that he wanted to scratch out, but the one thing worse than all of that was the inhuman panic and rage that took over him. He couldn’t think. It was so awful he couldn’t stop himself from being this horrible thing. He hated it. He hated himself.

Misha was horrified. Ludwig was screeching he didn’t even recognize that he was there. The feathers left on his body stood on end and his pupils had widened to an inhuman size.

Ludwig looked straight at Misha eyes shrunk back to normal and began crying, his screeching switched to whining. He tried to say something but it only came out as a squawk it sounded something like “I’m sorry” 

“Is okay, Should not have pressured you.” Misha began smoothing the feathers on Ludwig’s head. He closed his eyes allowing himself to be soothed. He brought his arms around Misha and sobbed into his chest. He hadn’t had human contact in so long much less anything like this. Misha was surprised but he didn’t not push him away. He hugged him back gently making sure to avoid his wings, but Ludwig tensed and sounded distressed. He let go immediately.

Ludwig was eventually able to recover. He apologize a few more times, Misha assured him it was okay. 

Ludwig felt exhaustion mentally and physically even though it was noon and eventually fell into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I’m really sorry I have no idea how to write a Russian accent.


	9. Come Back

Misha felt bad it was becoming late in the day and he needed to get more supplies for his guest. He was going to have to wake him up. He tapped Ludwig on the shoulder. He jumped up looking startled.

“V-vhat I- how long have I slept?

“At least five hours.”

“Oh- I apologize I am usually more alert zhan zhis.”

“You need rest. Am telling you that I will be leaving to get supplies. Is there anything you would like?”

He thought for a moment, but he couldn't think of anything else he'd like to eat besides two things, “I-I guess bread and seeds vould be nice.”

“Anything else?”

“A few books. Vhatever you pick out vill be fine.”

Misha nodded. He was sure he could find something Ludwig would like. He gave Ludwig a pat on the head and left.

Ludwig watched the door shut and a feeling of panic began to flood his senses. He kept trying to reassure himself but the thought kept repeating in his mind. ‘What if doesn’t come back?’ His whole body began to shake as his feathers began to rise. 

“No- no I can’t-“ He shuddered and tried to breathe, tried to calm himself but, he’d always been horrible at self soothing and being an abomination (at least in his own eyes) did not help.

He hugged himself but his talons buried into his skin. He screeched but didn’t let go. Something inside himself wouldn’t let him and it kept telling him to destroy the enclosure he was in. It took everything he had to fight it as his claws sank deeper into his skin.

“P-please come back-“ he said to no one.

He stayed like that for about an hour barley containing himself. He did eventually let go and blood flowed out. Although he did consider his feathers a blessing for once. They would make his injury look less obvious. He did however pluck some on his chest and face. They were already growing back and the poking sensation was driving him insane. He then pulled a blanket over his head that calmed him a little. Then he heard the door open.

Misha dropped everything “You’re back!” Ludwig jumped up but immediately tripped he caught himself by leaning on the wall. He had forgotten about his injuries for moment.

Misha dropped everything and supported him and got him back on the bed. He then noticed blood on his arms.

“What happened?”

“Oh- zhis? It’s nozhing really. Sometimes I forget how sharp my claws are.”

“Are you sure?”

“Ja alzhough my appearance may suggest othervise I am not as suicidal as you think.”

Misha nodded he didn’t know what to say, he began picking up the things he dropped.

“I’m not lying. It vas an accident- oh you dropped all zhat let me help you-“ Ludwig tried to get up but, started to fall, Misha caught him again and Misha helped him to the bed.

“Sorry, I keep forgetting.”

“Is fine.” He brought Ludwig three books.

“Danke.” Ludwig brought them close to his chest practically hugging them. He was going to start reading until he noticed Misha had a book of his own. From the looks of it the book was about birds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow a bird emotionally unstable man child. Who knew


	10. An Interesting Book

Ludwig saw the book that Misha had and felt extremely self conscious. Is that what Misha saw when he looked at him, a bird? Ludwig wasn’t a bird he was human. Right? 

Misha noticed Ludwig’s unease and he quickly realized what it was about.

“Did not mean to upset you,” He sat the book down, “Want to understand you.”

“Zhat’s very kind of you.” Yet his expression stayed the same.

“I do not have to read now.”

“No go ahead I honestly don’t mind. It’s a nice sentiment. I should get to reading the books you brought me anyvay.”

Misha nodded and they both read their books in silence.

As Ludwig was reading he realized something. He wasn’t wearing his glasses. In fact he had lost them sometime, he couldn’t remember when, but he could see better than he had in his entire life. A small wave of happiness flowed through him for a moment. Maybe his changes weren’t all bad he thought until he remembered the feathers that poked his skin now more than usual, his sharp talons that not only posed a threat to others but also himself, and one of the worst parts was his already horrible anxiety had been worsened. He didn’t know if it was his new instincts or trauma that caused this, Maybe it was both. He just knew he couldn’t spiral again like this, especially if he was alone.

“Are you okay?” Misha asked, causing Ludwig to jump.

“I’m fine. Vhy vould you zhink I’m not?”

“Feathers.” 

“Vhat about zhem-“ Ludwig noticed why his feathers were bothering him so badly, they were all standing on end.

“Tell me if wrong, last night I noticed when you were scared they would rise.”

“You’re right I suppose.” He sighed.

“Suppose?”

“I don’t know myself very well right now I assume the feathers rise when I’m... upset.”

Misha held one of Ludwig’s hands, “Will help you learn about you as best I can.”

Ludwig felt tears threatening to pour out of his eyes and yet a small smile creeped across his face. For just a moment he felt truly appreciated by someone else.

“Danke.” Was all he could say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww little bird is self conscious


	11. Who are you?

Misha truly did not know what to think about Ludwig. He was most definitely strange ,but he didn’t see him as something to be feared, he saw him as someone who was in desperate need of help and that’s exactly what he was going to do, help him. He did his best to hide the bird book away from Ludwig. He knew it made him upset. However the book did not do much good. What he really needed to learn more about was in fact Ludwig. The main problem was that he did not seem very keen on talking about his past. That didn’t mean he didn’t try.

“Ludwig?”

“Ja?” Ludwig looked up from his book.

“What did you do before...” He trailed off trying to think of something that wouldn’t offend him.

“I vas a scientist.” He answered quickly, he seemed slightly disturbed. 

“What were you studying?” Misha knew that had something to do with what he had become.

“I cannot tell you zhat.” 

“Will tell no one, will not be upset.” Misha assumed it was some secret project. 

“I cannot tell you that!” Ludwig sounded distressed and Misha decided to drop the subject entirely.

“Do you like book?”

“Ja! I have made it to zhe third, zhey are all very captivating.”

“Already?”

“I am a very fast reader.” He sounded a little proud of himself.

“Good. Next time will bring you more.”

Ludwig smiled a bit and looked indecisive but, finally began speaking again, “Misha I know I should have asked you this earlier so you could have bought me some... could I borrow some of your clothes, zhese rags are becoming very uncomfortable.”

“Da not sure they will fit you.”

“I don’t mind anything is fine.”

Misha looked around eventually he got the smallest shirt and pair of pants that he owned and brought them to Ludwig.

“Danke.” He said enthusiastically.

“Do you want help?”

“No. I can change by myself.” He motioned to the door.

“Will be outside.” Misha said and quickly left, blushing just a little bit.

Ludwig sighed and struggled to take off his clothing. This was the first time he’d seen his whole self since the incident.

“Oh god.” He whimpered, truly disgusted with himself. He put on the new clothes as quickly as possible. The shirt and pants had no holes for his wings or tail feathers, however it was still very big on him so it wasn’t that horrible and besides he didn’t want to ruin anything that belongs to Misha. He tosses his old torn clothing on the floor, not wanting to even think about it again.

“You can come back in!” He chirped. 

Misha did, “Do you like them?”

“Ja. Danke.” His body betrayed him once more and his feathers began to ruffle uncontrollably. “I’m getting used to it that’s all.” Misha came over and ripped holes in the back.

“Why did you-“

“You were uncomfortable, I can not fit in anyway.”

Ludwig nodded and adjusted his wings carefully through the holes, and smiled sweetly at him.

Misha felt warmth flow through his chest, he’d do anything just to see him smile like that again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bro they lowkey be crushing on each other this early 
> 
> Misha: So you see that’s where the trouble began.
> 
> Ludwig: 😊
> 
> Misha: That smile.
> 
> Misha: That damned smile.


	12. On the Road Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone miss our favorite Octopus and Ozzie?

Mundy felt something poke his nose, waking him from his sleep, he looked up and saw nothing out of the ordinary, well except Spook lying beside him, but that was becoming his new normal so he brushed it off and tried to sleep a little longer. Until he felt his nose being poked again followed by an airy chuckle, he looked over at Spook who was “sleeping” and grinned to himself before laying back down. The third time he felt it he jumped up immediately and grabbed Spook’s hand 

“Gotcha!” He spoke triumphantly and laughed at him until he saw the look on Spook’s face. He looked so frightened and shielded himself with his other arm and tentacles, “Hey it’s okay I’m not gonna hurt ya.” He let go of his hand to show he wasn’t a threat.

Spook nodded and became less defensive, rubbing his wrist, still looking at Mundy with wide eyes and before he knew what happened Mundy poked his nose and chuckled, trying to lighten his spirits. It worked, Spook giggled quietly and hugged him tightly, nuzzling into his shoulder. 

“Awwww, you’re a clingy little thing aren’t ya?” He hugged Spook back and patted him a couple of times. 

Spook nodded happily before he froze, there was that feeling again, it was like a tightness in his chest, but it was also warm and good, it was extremely confusing. 

Mundy noticed the change and it concerned him, “Is something wrong?” 

He nodded and pointed at his chest, Mundy examined him only seeing the stitches where the doctor had cut into him, “Must be something the doc did, I’m sure you’ll be alright.” Still he sounded nervous, he had no idea what that loony had done to adorable Spook who sighed and nodded, he was a little worried about himself as well, this feeling was odd.

“There’s no point in worrying about it, there’s really nothing I can do and besides it probably is nothing serious. Getting yourself worked up will only make things worse.” Mundy did his best to set his worry aside and tried to give Spook a reassuring smile. Apparently it worked, Spook grinned as a slight tint of blue and forgot about his worry. The feeling in his chest wasn’t that bad, it actually felt really good at times and it seemed to be caused by Mundy. He looked down with a content look on his face.

“Alright I better start driving again, you stay back here and all you have to do is ask and I’ll get ya anything you need.” He grinned back at Spook before leaving him on the bed and starting the van. Spook sighed as he walked away with a look of pure bliss on his face, he relaxed and let the sound of tires rotating on pavement comfort himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the lack of updates I have had some personal stuff going on and I’ve been writing this story out of order so don’t worry I’m not stopping anyway I hope y’all have a lovely day.


	13. More is to Come of This Than we Expected

Now that Spook, well he supposed that was his name now, he found it endearing that Mundy called him that, but he liked his original name better, still he decided against telling him that. Anyway he had more time to think now that he wasn’t in the open ocean or a mad doctor’s lab so he had began to ponder what he felt for Mundy. He decided that it wasn’t bad, on the contrary it felt very good, so good in fact that he knew it could become a terrible feeling if Mundy happened to do something to ruin their newly formed friendship, which he was unintentionally doing right now by bringing him back “home” when Spook had fully known that the sea was never his home, just a place he was forced into, the lab had felt more like home than the ocean ever did and that was because Mundy was there. Now that he was in the van with him he had finally found a safe home he never wanted to leave.

He sighed and looked out the window, a part of him was scared to ask Mundy to let him stay, he’d already done so much for him and what if he became angry if he asked for more?

Meanwhile in the drivers seat Mundy was thinking something similar. He enjoyed Spook’s company more than any other person he had ever met and he didn’t want to loose him, but he figured Spook wanted to go back the ocean, it was where he wanted to be, right? 

Either way one of them was going to break soon, the only question was who?

The sun had long since set and yet Mundy just kept driving, it was a good distraction from his thoughts and the small ache in his chest. Until he heard that strained airy voice speak up.

“You sh-should come back h-here, you need to rest.” 

“Yeah alright, I’ll find a place to stop for the night...”

“Is s-something the matter?”

“No I’m fine...”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah... well I don’t really know. Can we talk about this when I’m not driving?”

“Oh of course.”

Mundy did eventually find a place to stop for the night after purposely skipping a few highway exits only to delay the inevitable. To him Spook didn’t sound to happy either and he was worried about what he might say. He unbuckled his seat belt and slowly made his way to back where Spook was sitting, well could it be considered sitting if he had no legs. 

“So... what’s b-bothering you?” Spook asked in a somewhat strained voice as he tilted his head in a cute way.

Mundy rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, his palms were beginning to sweat, “Well I- I don’t know if I should be asking this, but I- no never mind it’s stupid.”

“N-no! You are not st-stupid and nothing you have to ask is stupid... I’m sorry, I have something I would like to ask you as well, I am only afraid of what you might say.” Spook looked up at his eyes with desperation in every word. 

“Well why don’t we ask at the same time?”

Spook nodded and smiled at the silly idea.

“Okay in three, two, one.”

The paused a second before both blurting out what they had to say.

“Can I stay with you?”

“Would ya like to stay with me?” 

They both looked at each other, completely dumbfounded for a couple of moments before Mundy chuckled and soon after Spook joined in with an airy laugh. 

“Of course I’d like you to stay with me.”

“And I would like to stay.” 

Mundy plopped down on the little bed while sighing with relief, “Thank goodness... I don’t know what I’d do without you, I’m probably wanted in all fifty states by now.”

Spook chuckled and moved over to him, “No I do not believe y-you are, if you were we would have been caught by now.” 

“I guess you’re right.” He shrugged and noticed how close Spook was so he gently pulled him in his lap.

He gasped softly at the sudden closeness.

“Oh sorry mate, I-I can let go if you want-“ 

Spook interrupted him by giving him a kiss on the cheek which made Mundy’s face turn bright red.

“S-so y-you don’t want me to l-let g-go?”

“That should be obvious.” 

“Y-yeah I g-guess you’re right.”

The pair spent the rest of the night snuggling and holding each other, feeling so safe and finally feeling free from the troubles that awaited them outside. They began to make plans to travel the country and see every thing they could, it would be better to do that than to settle down where they could be easily found. 

Meanwhile three men were informed by their new boss that an experiment and a two scientist had disappeared from a facility. Their goal would be to search for them with the few clues of their whereabouts they had left, a handful of white, gray, and black feathers, a photo of a man who was wearing yellow sunglasses,an almost unbelievable picture of a half octopus man, and an injured dove. All three of them were absolutely puzzled, but at least the pay was good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congrats to anyone who can guess where I’m going with this story or who the three men are


	14. Reflection

After a while of being stuck in the cabin Ludwig was beginning to grow restless, there was only so long a few books could keep one entertained. He had even resorted to asking Misha for the bird book which he after slight hesitation gave him, mainly because Ludwig had used his large adorable begging eyes to get it and even then Ludwig had fallen further into boredom. The day his leg had finally stopped being painful he felt if he stayed in that cabin a minute longer he would die of boredom.

Ludwig hopped up and down, his leg had fully healed and he couldn’t contain his excitement.

“Misha! It’s time you show me around. I’m tired of staying in here all zhe time and my leg is completely healed now.” To prove his point he shook it around in the air, it was basically just a large bird foot now the same as the uninjured one. The claws on them were huge and threatening, it was seemingly impossible that Ludwig had somehow made this gesture look endearing.

“Da. Will show you. Not very interesting, mainly trees and lake.”

“I don’t care, I vant to see and I vant to see it with you!”

Ludwig nearly broke down the door in his excitement. He seemed to be interested in everything. Probably because his improved eyesight and the fact that he’d mainly stayed in a cabin for two weeks. He was particularly fond of shiny things.

“Look how pretty it is!” Ludwig held up a sparkly rock he looked almost entranced by it.

“Is nice.” He grinned back at him and his shiny little rock, he had never taken time to appreciate things like this before.

“I vant your to have it.” 

“Really?” Misha had to stop himself from chuckling. He’d never seen Ludwig act this childlike before.

“Ja! It’s pretty and you are pretty. It’s only logical.”

Misha took the rock, it was so small in his hand, a part of him was afraid he would break it so he placed it his pocket.

Ludwig peeped as soon as he took it, “Sorry- I’m very excited.” 

“Do not apologize, it is good to see you happy.”

Ludwig nodded and grinned, he was still smiling, just more his quiet and reserved self. Until they made it to the lake.

The water was beautiful, Ludwig’s smile widened as he saw how sparkly it was. He got closer to the lake and suddenly his feathers began to prickle.

“What is wrong?”

“Zh-zhat’s me?” Ludwig stared down at his reflection.

“Da. Is you.”

“No- no zhat’s not- I’m not- I can’t be-“ His body began to shake uncontrollably.

Misha put his hand on Ludwig’s shoulder and tried to comfort him, but it was to late.

“ZHAT IS NOT ME!” He began striking the water with his feet, he clawed and kicked it, Misha didn’t know what to do he backed away trying his best not to get covered in water.

Eventually Ludwig stopped his tantrum and he realized that he acted like a fool, “I’m s-so sorry.” He choked out, his body shook even harder because of the dampness of his feathers.

“Is fine. Want to go back?” He offered his hand, he couldn’t hold this against Ludwig, the poor man had not done any harm and he looked so worried.

“Ja.” Ludwig took his hand sounding weary yet relieved, Misha didn’t tell him that he should leave.

As they walked back to the cabin Ludwig’s foot began to act up, he must have damaged it during his meltdown. He tried to hide it until the pain became completely unbearable when he put his full weight on it, Misha noticed his limping and felt bad, he should have known his reflection would upset him.

“Want me to carry you?”

“No I can-“ he tripped over a rock on his bad leg, he yelped and whined, Misha caught him before he hit the ground. He continued to whine as tears filled his eyes, he was cold, wet, embarrassed, and his leg hurt so much. The urge to throw an even bigger tantrum was only outweighed by being held in Misha’s arms. 

“Is okay, am here.” He soothed, making sure his grip was loose so he wouldn’t stress Ludwig anymore than he already was. 

“Wh-why?” He sniffled and whined, “Why does this al-always happen? Why can I never enjoy myself?”

“Does not know... am very sorry.” Misha continued walking and began to stroke his wet feathers lightly.

“This isn’t your fault, it’s all m-me, I’m the one who c-can’t control myself anymore.”

Misha kept quiet for a moment, thinking of something to say, when he spoke again he sounded very thoughtful, “Maybe it is because little bird tried to keep everything inside, was not good for you and now cannot do it anymore.” He shrugged and petted him a little more, “Does not know, maybe that is why you have trouble.”

He sniffled and nodded, pondering what he said, “J-ja... it does make sense.” He chuckled and looked up at him with bright eyes, “Little bird?” 

Misha bushed and averted eye contact, “Da... is little, cute, and like bird, is only logical.”

“You zhink I’m cute?” A smile tugged at his lips as he became flushed as well.

He blushed even harder, beginning to stammer, “D-da little bir- you are ver- cute on-only cute.”

Ludwig curled up even more, smiling brightly, and quivering with happiness, “Danke you are very kind.”

He nodded and had to look away, Ludwig was being too adorable right now, he was afraid he might say or do something he would regret. The pair finally made it back to the cabin, Misha opened the door and quickly tried to set Ludwig down on the bed, but the little bird kept holding onto him and nuzzled into his chest. Misha just thought he wasn’t thinking properly and pushed him off, afraid if he gave him any more affection he would get carried away. 

Ludwig looked up at him, seeming a little disappointed, “Did I do something wrong?” He pointed the tips of his two pointer fingers together, making a pouty face.

“N-no did nothing wrong uhhh,” Misha was getting redder by the second, he was afraid his body would betray him any moment, “Has to go w-will be back soon.” He nearly ran outside, almost forgetting to shut the door behind him. He slowed his pace once he was away from the cabin before finding a tree to sit underneath, he needed time to collect himself.

Ludwig didn’t even have time to say anything else to him, he left so quickly. He wondered if he was mad at him, maybe he didn’t like the closeness, of corse he wouldn’t, he was wet ugly mess at the moment, but he had also just told him he was cute, it was so confusing. Now that he was alone and had no one to distract him he truly felt the pain in his leg, he sighed and folded his arms, knowing that he would have to wait longer to walk again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluffy bird man
> 
> That is all


	15. Blue Eyes

Keeping himself together was so hard, but Misha managed to do it and made his way back. He paused a moment outside the door and took a deep breath before going inside. 

Ludwig perked up as he entered, though he was very meek, “I apologize for my behavior earlier, I hope I haven’t offended you and if I did please tell me so I can try to make it better.”

“No, is fine, was surprised that is all.” Misha replied as his hands clenched together nervously. 

“Good, I vas vorried.” He waited for Misha to respond and was unpleasantly greeted with awkward silence, “Is zhere anyzhing you vould like to do?”

“No, cannot go on walk because of... leg!” He was slightly startled by the sudden realization and closed the gap of space between them. 

“Oh j-ja, don’t vorry about it I’m sure it’s fi-“ The moment Misha delicately moved his leg to examine it better Ludwig let out a shriek which turned to whimpering. 

Misha quickly let go of the limb, feeling absolutely terrible about causing him any pain, “Sorry did not know, did not mean to hurt you.” 

“It’s f-fine, Misha. I am fine.” He forced out through gritted teeth and a trembling lip. His leg throbbed, sending waves of pulsing pain throughout his body. It felt worse than when he had first injured it and now he feared it may never properly heal.

“Knows you are not and is very sorry.” 

He knew that arguing with Misha about himself being fine so he said something he thought Misha would like to hear“... Danke. I forgive you. I know you are only trying to help, but could you please not touch it for now?”

“Da. Of course.” He nodded quickly, still concerned about the leg which even through feathers could be seen bruising a deep shade of black along with yellow and purple. If things were different he would have taken Ludwig to a doctor immediately. “Do you need anything to feel better?”

“Water sounds nice.” 

Misha retrieved a cup of water hastily to hand to Ludwig who thanked him and took small sips with very sort breaks between them, sometimes tilting his head back to swallow. Even the way he drank was odd, but Misha immediately felt bad when he noticed Ludwig staring back at him, he looked extremely embarrassed.

“S-sorry, I don’t know vhy I am doing zhis.” He hadn’t even realized he had been doing this earlier, however the attention made him think about how weird he must seem.

Misha looked away, “No is okay, should stop looking at you.” 

Ludwig nodded, but he had already set the half finished cup on the night stand.

“Sorry... did not mean to upset you.” Misha spoke regretfully.

“It’s alright, Misha, do not vorry about it.” His voice tried to stay even, but a slight quiver to it remained.

Misha nodded and went to the other side of the room to do his own thing to distract himself from his own shame.

Ludwig felt more comfortable now that Misha wasn’t too close so he continued to drink in his odd manner. He did try to force himself to drink normally, but every time he did he felt like gagging. 

Finally Misha decided to break the silence, for once in a very long time he felt uncomfortable with quiet, “Is still sorry, needs to stop embarrassing you.” He apologized again and sat down on the bed, careful to avoid touching Ludwig.

He scooted over to give Misha more room, wincing as pain kicked up in his leg,“Thank you for your apologies... I’m not upset with you, I vould probably be doing zhe same zhing if I was in your situation.” He replied earnestly, he felt awful that Misha was beating himself up over this, “And besides I can handle a few stares from someone who has been so kind to me. I zhink I could come to enjoy you gazing at me every so often.” His cheeks flushed at the last remark and he couldn’t stop a trace of a smile from appearing on his face.

“Could stare at you all day, Ludwig.” He smirked, now purposely giving him a look.

“Very funny," Ludwig rolled his eyes in good humor before meeting his, “Do you vant a staring contest because I am sure I can most certainly win.” 

“Staring contest sounds good. Do not be so confident, little bird.” He leaned a bit closer, ready to start their friendly competition. 

“Oh I zhink I vill be, especially vith zhese eyes.” He to inched closer while gazing directly into the lager man’s gray blue eyes. 

The longer Misha stared the more details he gathered from his competitor’s eyes. They were a strikingly beautiful blue and extremely large, especially his irises which appeared to be dilating to an even larger size as time went on. Although there was certain depressed exhausted look in them, as if he had wanted something for a very long time and had never received it. The time for staring into his eyes was coming to an end since he could feel the need to blink, but wouldn’t give in until finally he had to. Instead of giving up graciously he blew a puff of air into Ludwig’s eyes just before he blinked.

“Dummkopf! I vas vinning fairly and you cheated.” He exclaimed dramatically and folded his arms.

“Never made rules besides staring.” Misha shrugged, amused by his reaction.

“Zhe rules vere already made, zhere vas no need to go over zhem again and you know it.” 

“The rules were made for people with bad eyes like mine, needed new way to win.”

“I vould hardly call zhat winning.” Ludwig grumbled with annoyance, however an edge of humor mixed in his voice as well.

“Can say it was tie. Would that make you happy?”

“Vhat vould make me happy is a rematch.” Despite his mild annoyance he was very eager to stare into Misha’s eyes again in an attempt to remember every detail.

“Then a rematch is what you will get.” He replied, sounding just as eager.

The two shared several more rounds throughout the afternoon and when that got old they coexisted in a comfortable silence, content to be in each other’s company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Misha🤝Ludwig  
> Bad flirting


	16. A Strange Bird

Ludwig cooed along with the birds who had been singing their morning song. Misha had become used to it so he was able to sleep right throughout it which made Ludwig feel more comfortable to let himself be more expressive in his vocalizations. He supposed it was a form of self expression, even if his instincts made him have an undeniable urge to partake in it. 

This particular morning he was feeling quite upbeat despite his aching leg. He had a new friend who might be proving himself to be better than Archimedes was. Although he missed his dove who had been with him through the good and bad times, mainly bad times, but his longest companion made his difficult life so much better. He wondered what happened to the bird, probably long dead, but he could hope that his friend had somehow survived and was well. 

Soon his thoughts and song were interrupted by the piercing noise of an alarm clock that was on the night stand on Misha’s side of the bed. Ludwig was bombarded with memories from that terrible day as Misha forced himself up to turn off the clock that was making such a racket. 

“Good morning.” He grumbled, still not completely awake yet.

Ludwig only shivered, staring down with wide eyes. His mind kept recalling broken memories of events that filled him with raw painful emotions. 

When he didn’t receive a response he began to worry and became more alert, “Are you okay?” He tapped Ludwig’s shoulder to snap him out of it.

He jumped and squawked, but otherwise he was alright only shaken, “Vhat d-did you say?”

“Asked if you we’re okay.”

“Oh ja, I’m fine. May I ask exactly why zhat zhing vas on?”

“Has job that needs to be done.” He sat up while stretching, his back made a few cracking noises.

“And vhy did you not tell me about zhis?”

“Was going to, but you fell asleep early. Did not want to wake you.”

“Vell I-... Danke. You are very considerate.”

“Tries to be for you.” Misha stood up and changed his shirt in front of Ludwig who wasn’t able to stop himself from looking at his large muscular figure. Misha smiled, ruffled his hand through the feathers on his head as he continued to get ready for the day.

Ludwig blushed profusely and tried to change the subject, “So vhat exactly do you do for zhis job?” 

“Lift heavy things and does other work, does not have same job for very long. Only does enough to pay for this place, it does not cost much.” 

“I can see zhat.” Ludwig scoffed half heartedly, he wouldn’t admit it, but he had grown fond of the sparsely decorated cabin.

Misha shrugged, “Da, did not have visitors before you. Had not thought about making it pretty.” 

“Zhat’s alvright, I still zhink it’s nice here and I should know after how much time I have been spending inside.” 

“Has point...” He gave the clock a quick glance, “Should be going now, will be back before sunset.” 

“Oh... Vell I’ll see y-you later.” Ludwig sounded nervous, he couldn’t help it after the last time he’d been left alone.

“Do not worry, will be back before you know it.” He flashed Ludwig one last reassuring smile before he closed the door behind him.

“Before I know it...” He trailed off, hoping Misha was right.

Instead of panic or anxiety all he felt was boredom when Misha had been gone for an hour. He stared at the small battery powered clock from time to time, but that just made everything feel slower so he picked up a book and reread it, taking up another two hours of his time. When he had finished he laid back down and considered if sleep was a good option until he tuned in to the bird songs on the outside. He wasn’t as compelled to join in as he was in the mornings, instead he felt he should listen. 

At first nothing they said made sense, only sounding as mere chips and whistles, until he began to understand the meanings of it all. The warnings of the fall that was soon approaching, the boasting of territory and who it belonged to, and something in particular really peaked his interest. Something that sounded like a hushed conversation, he couldn’t understand it all too well, but he did hear something along the lines of “Strange bird in the lake” He immediately lost his focus after that and the bird songs became gibberish to him once more.

“So I’m strange to birds as well as humans, zhat’s wunderbar.” He scoffed sarcastically while he folded his arms. He was only seen a a monstrosity by nearly everything he came into contact with. Hindsight only made him feel worse, this all could have been avoided if he had fixed a few critical mistakes, although he did have a feeling if that syringe hadn’t been stabbed into his chest he would be more miserable than he was right now. At lease with Misha he had been having a pleasant time even if there were some issues, but they were mainly caused by himself.

In fact being around Misha brought him more joy than any successful groundbreaking discovery he had ever made. It was an odd feeling, one he hadn’t felt in a long time. He could place it, still he didn’t want to admit it since he thought he could get ahead of himself and make things weird or ruin their friendship. 

Misha walked in and ultimately tore him away from his thoughts. His steps were heavier than usual and he was covered in sweat and dirt. He looked exhausted as he set what looked to be a decent sized stack of money on the counter.

“So how vas your day?” 

“Fine.” He huffed while making his way to the bathroom so he could take a shower. 

“Rude.” He grumbled half heartedly.

When he heard the water turn on he unconsciously turned his head in the direction of the noise. What he wasn’t expecting was the door to be open, he didn’t see much of anything since Misha was already behind the shower curtain although he could see an outline which was enough for him to get a good idea what he was seeing. He gulped and turned away while blushing profusely. 

“Misha?” He partially squawked to get his attention.

“What?” He grumbled back past the sound of water.

“You forgot t-to shut zhe door.”

Misha gasped and stumbled, barely preventing himself from falling to the floor. He really had been living alone for too long, “Sorry.” He mumbled shamefully.

“Don’t vorry I didn’t see anyzhing and I von’t look either... zhe last zhing I vant to do is embarrass you.”

“Thank you.” He finished his shower rather quickly and clothed himself as fast as he could. He didn’t even care about his shirt being on backwards. Despite being clothed he still felt naked, he didn’t want to believe Ludwig thought less of him now, but he had done something awfully stupid.

“Can I look now?” Ludwig asked while he was turned the other direction and even had covered his eyes for good measure.

“Da.” Misha mumbled as he slowly approached the bed, despite everything he was eager to relax.

“Oh good.” He relaxed when he turned to face him, thankfully there was not a trace of judgment in his expression.

Misha nodded and sat down beside him, feeling extremely awkward until Ludwig broke the silence.

“I learned a new zhing about myself vhen you were gone.” He chirped enthusiastically.

“That is?”

“I can understand zhe birds, vell I can understand some of vhat zhey are saying at least.”

Misha was very interested by this, sometimes he had wondered what the birds spoke about after years of listening to their songs, “What do birds say?”

“Zhey said somezhing about autumn being here soon, territory and who it belonged to, and I zhink.... I zhink zhey said somezhing about me.” He mumbled the last part, it made him uncomfortable.

“What about you?” 

“Zhat I’m strange.” 

“Not bad, birds could say much worse. Besides they are just birds, does not matter what they say.” He lightly petted Ludwig’s shoulder, the feathers he had plucked were beginning to grow back. 

Ludwig smiled at the touch, “I’ve always appreciated human opinions less zhan animals, especially birds.”

“Does not care about what I think?” Misha replied with a fake pouty face.

“No of course I care vhat you zhink, I never had many human friends before I- vait you’re messing vith me!” 

“Da. Thought it was obvious.” He chuckled before becoming more serious, “Did not have any friends before this?”

“Vell I had Archimedes, she vas very nice.” 

Misha eyed him, “And what was friend like?”

“Small, kind, a little clumsy, but she vas getting older... she vas also a dove.” 

“Expected that... did you have any human friends?”

His feathers perked up slightly, something was bothering him,“Hmmm does a receptionist, my mother, or ex wife count?”

He was very surprised by this, Ludwig in his mind never seemed like the type of person who was interested in woman, but maybe he had read him wrong, “Maybe. Probably not ex wife, did not think you would want wife.” 

“Vell I didn’t, however I needed official residence here if I vas going to continue my work.” He sighed looking somewhat regretful, “She vas a lovely girl, it vas a very selfish zhing to do on my part, but no matter how hard I tried I could never love her.” 

“Oh. Is sorry.” He murmured and patted Ludwig on the back. Although a part of him felt relieved.

“Don’t vorry about it, zhat happened many years ago and she’s moved on and it doesn’t keep me up at night. In fact I hardly zhink about it anymore.” He flashed a wide smile at Misha.

“Good.” He nodded, although he felt as if Ludwig was not telling him about something else. It was disturbing to him, but he wasn’t going to ask anything that would bother him, it was good to see that he was opening up and he didn’t want to ruin that, “What about mother?” 

“Oh! She vas amazing, vell from vhat I remember. She died vhen I vas twelve, however vhen she was alive she alvays loved to read stories too me and she vas an excellent baker. Zhank goodness for my high metabolism or I vould have been zhe fattest boy in school. She had a very good sense of humor as vell and as I got older I realized it vas very inappropriate and my father alvays scolded her for saying zhose zhings around me, she never cared and continued to do so until zhe day she died. Oh and she inspired my love of birds, she had huge books all about zhem and she had zhis darling canary named Archimedes, you can tell I’m not very original vith names, anyvay-“ 

Misha tried to keep up with his rambling that didn’t seem like it would end any time soon. It was a lot to process especially since english was his second language, still it was great to hear Ludwig being so happy even if the topic of a deceased mother was a little morbid, but he spoke with such fondness Misha was sure he loved her very much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes the shower part was absolutely necessary to the plot.


	17. Vague

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bird needs a bath

Although Misha’s goal was to never make Ludwig uncomfortable, something had to be done about this. It wasn’t that Ludwig was disgusting, but he would be soon if nothing was done about this. He needed a bath. 

He ran the water until the tub was filled to what he deemed acceptable and set a bar of soap on the ledge. For some reason he was dreading asking Ludwig to do this. He went to him, he was leisurely reading a book before he looked up at him.

“You look nervous, vhat’s zhe matter?” He tilted his head and looked at Misha with wide concerned eyes.

“Little bir- Ludwig, wants you to take bath.” He mumbled quick.

“A bath?” His feathers prickled.

“Da, made you one in there.”

He chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, “Vell I don’t know, vith my leg and everzhing-“

“Can carry you, does not mind.” 

“Don’t you zhink you’re being too forceful about zhis? I could just rub some dirt on my body and zhat vould be just fine. Who needs vater, am I right?”

“Why would you think dirt will help?”

“I don’t know it just sounds right. I simply zhink zhat much vater v-vouldn’t feel nice.”

“Lets you live here, only asks few things. Taking bath is one of them.” 

“Oh please, vhat are you going to do? Throw me in?” 

With that Misha gently, but firmly lifted Ludwig into his arms and carried him to the bathtub.

“Let me down now!” He squawked as he broke into a nervous sweat, he pulled his legs together tightly.

The moment they made it over the tub Misha replied with, “Okay.” And set him down it the water, “Do not come out until clean, change of clothes is there.” He motioned to the small counter with his clothes which would be oversized on Ludwig, but they were better than nothing.

“You are terrible.” He grumbled and kept trying to prop as much of himself out of the water as possible.

“Knows, now take long bath.” Misha shrugged and left Ludwig alone in the bathroom after he shut the door.

Ludwig grumbled, slowly letting himself succumb to a sitting position in the water. He angrily pulled off his clothes and threw them to the floor one piece at a time. When he saw the bar of soap he grabbed it, pierced it with his talons, and rubbed it all over his body. He wanted this to be over as quickly as possible, especially since he could see the water turning a light shade of brown due to all the dirt he was scrubbing off. The more he thought about it he realized that this wasn’t that terrible, maybe a little uncomfortable, but not as bad as his mind made it out to be. It was silly to be afraid of baths now, he’d taken them many times before. He shrugged, it must be another bird instinct, as well as thinking taking a dust bath would be a good idea.

When he decided the water was too dirty to do any good for him he unplugged the drain and watched the murky water disappear. He heaved himself up to a standing position then rinsed himself off with the shower as best he could before finally turning the water. His sopping wet feathers were uncomfortable on his skin and without the water that had been proving it’s self to be slightly comfortable he was becoming cold. He shivered while reaching for a towel to dry himself off when suddenly all his feathers stood straight up, sending droplets of water everywhere. His body continued shivering and shaking to the point he had to sit down. He grumbled miserably, left with nothing to do except wait for it to pass. 

When it finally did he stood himself up, leaning on the wall for support and struggled into the clothes which had already cut holes for his wings and tail feathers. He smiled at the kind gesture, until he looked into the mirror. His face appeared to be the same except for the few feathers that mainly grew on his upper cheeks, how his hair looked to be more feather than anything else, and a few long feathers grew where his curl of hair used to be, some things would never change. He examined his teeth and found they were much sharper than before. At least on the bright side he didn’t have a beak as well as he no longer hated how he looked as much as before. He reached for his still damp clothes and hung them up to dry before he limped out of the tiny room.

“Zhere, I’m clean. Are you happy?” He struggled to walk even with the support of the wall, the pain was getting to him.

Misha immediately rushed to his side to help him “Da. Thank you.” Ludwig’s feathers were still slightly damp, but they were so fluffy as well.

“Vhatever. I can valk by myself.” He grumbled and pushed himself away, but ultimately ended falling backwards into Misha’s arms, letting out a defeated whimper.

“Is okay, do not feel bad. Does not mind.” He picked Ludwig up with ease and set him on the bed. 

“Danke...” Ludwig sighed with folded arms.

“Sorry. Should not carry you without asking.” 

“No it’s not zhat, I vas struggling and you vere kind enough to help me and for zhat I am grateful. I guess I’m frustrated because I feel so helpless.” He admitted as his feathers drooped.

“Understands how that feels,” He carefully sat down beside Ludwig while looking him in the eyes, “Is sorry, but leg will heal soon and until it does can help take care of you.” 

Ludwig’s lip began to tremble and tears formed in his wide eyes, “You a-are so nice.”

“No,” Misha shifted closer to Ludwig to wipe away his tears, his words were filled with concern, “Do not cry, is okay.”

A faint chuckle escaped him as he felt Misha’s huge hand brush over his sensitive face. The few feathers that had oddly grown in a very small patch on his upper cheeks relaxed at the touch. He could feel himself wanting more affection so he carefully slid his arms around Misha. The larger man felt his heart jolt in his chest, a panic came over him, but it was an excited one. He eagerly, yet lightly pulled Ludwig into a hug and was happy to feel him relax into it.

“You are a great hugger despite zhe fact zhat you have lived alone for so long.” Ludwig sniffled with humor in his voice.

“Has three sisters, maybe that is reason.” 

He pulled away and looked up at Misha who was disappointed that the hug had ended, apparently he had been surprised, “Zhree sisters?” 

“Da. Is that problem?” 

“No n-not at all, I zhink it’s interesting. Vould you mind telling me about zhem?” He leaned his head forward expectantly.

Misha already regretted bringing them up, he didn’t want to think about depressing things now, he had been hugging the cutest man he had ever seen. He sighed, he was only doing this to satisfy Ludwig’s curiosity, “Zhanna, Yana, Bronislava. All very good girls, can be reckless at times, still has very good intentions.” He finished his explanation of each of them as quickly as possible.

“Zhat’s it?” 

“Da.”

“Oh please zhere has to be somezhing else... oh I know! Tell me one zhing you like about each of zhem.”

“Yana is kind, Bronislava is intelligent, Zhanna is brave.” 

Ludwig was mildly frustrated that he wasn’t getting specifics, but he could tell that Misha wasn’t necessarily comfortable with the topic so he stopped pressing for information, “Danke zhey sound... nice.”

Misha nodded, he looked as if he were deep in thought, however it appeared to be troubling him so Ludwig reached for his arm.

“Is everzhing alvright?” 

“Da, is fine.” He became more alert when snapped back into reality.

“Good, tell me if you need to talk about anyzhing.” He gave Misha one last glance, but decided it was best to focus on something else for the time being so he picked up a book and began to read.

“I will.” Misha stared down at his hands, occasionally glancing at Ludwig. So many thoughts scrambled around in his brain and he had no idea what to do with all of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ludwig: Throw me in the bath do it you won’t
> 
> Misha: Bet-
> 
> Also hmmmmm Misha having issues with his past and his family? More likely than you would think-


	18. What of Being in Love Could they Possibly Know?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bird man needs fresh air

As more time passed Ludwig found himself becoming more and more bored with his situation. It wasn’t that Misha wasn’t fun, he loved talking to him, in fact he had never enjoyed being with anyone else more. However, when Misha left the cabin for some reason or another or was just quiet he had nothing to do, no problems to solve. All he could do was sit and wait for his leg to heal. 

He sighed and folded his arms while he stared at the door longingly. Despite not being outside he knew it was a beautiful day. He had felt it in the air and it was confirmed by the birds excited chatter. The happiness of the birds only tautened him, how he longed to be outside.

“Looks sad. Tell me what is wrong.” Misha broke the silence due to his concern.

“Oh it’s nozhing, nozhing at all.” He sighed, still looking forlorn.

He placed his hand on Ludwig’s shoulder, lightly stroking it with his thumb,“Do not lie. Can tell me what is problem, wants to help.” 

Ludwig relaxed with his touch and met his gaze, “I vant to go outside and I vant to valk, zhat’s all.”

“Is sorry, cannot heal leg... can bring you outside if you are okay with being carried.” A small grin spread across his face, he felt excited about the idea of holding Ludwig for an extended period of time.

An involuntary squeak came out of his mouth and he immediately cleared his throat due to embarrassment, “Ja, I zhink zhat vould be alvright.” 

“Then it is settled.” Misha broke into a smile as he pulled Ludwig into his arms. 

The smaller man squeaked again, this time much louder, “Sorry zh-zhis must b-be a new zhing.” 

“Is okay, no need to be embarrassed.” He was fairly certain Ludwig was nervous about being outside. It had been a little while and his last experience with the outdoors had been less than pleasant so he wanted to make everything as nice as possible for the little bird he held in his arms, “Will not go to lake again, promise.” 

“Oh don’t vorry about zhat, Misha. It vas only seeing my appearance like zhis for zhe first time vas vhat took me off guard. If I vas still as upset about it as I vas zhen your mirror vould be shattered.” The last remark was slightly unnerving, despite that he said it with a chuckle.

“Da, is good you did not break mirror.” He shifted Ludwig up into one of his arms with ease in order to open the door. 

A faint smile appeared on Ludwig’s face as the light hit his eyes. His legs kicked and his wings flapped a little due to the excitement. He winced when the pain in it flared up, by no means was it as unbearable as it was before, but it was very uncomfortable for him. 

Unknown to him, one of his wings hit Misha in the face, it didn’t hurt, however the feathers tickled his nose causing him to sneeze. It was surprisingly squeaky and somewhat cute.

“Are you allergic to somezhing, Misha?” He giggled due to such a small sound coming from a man as large as him.

Misha blushed and stopped his already slow pace, his sneezes were always something to be self conscious about, but more than anything he was afraid to tell Ludwig about his feathers since it could make he feel bad,“Maybe, does not know.” 

“Vait... I zhink I know vhat it is.” A mischievous grin tugged on his lips, he repositioned himself so he was facing him. One leg wrapped around him while the other stretched down for its comfort. He impulsively brought the arm that had the most feathers to Misha’s nose and rubbed it around a little causing him to sneeze cutely again. Ludwig laughed while he held his face in his hands, careful with his talons and he spoke in a high pitched tone, “You are so adorable!”

Misha had to smile as he blushed. It had been an incredibly long time since anyone had called him adorable and the compliment coming from Ludwig made his heart sing, “Thank you. Still thinks you are the one who is ‘so adorable.’”

“Vhere on earth vould you get zhat idea? Look at me.” He flexed his talons and bared his sharp teeth momentarily.

If he hadn’t known Ludwig for long enough it would have been threatening, but now that he knew how unnatural that scary face looked on him and he chuckled, “Da sees that you are very cute.” 

“I am not.” He blushed and scrunched up due to excitement as well as embarrassment. He really didn’t know what to think about being called cute, it made him feel different, it was a positive difference though. 

“Whatever you want to believe.” He ruffled the feathers that were on Ludwig’s head with one hand while he kept holding onto him with the other and continued walking. 

“I’ll believe it because I am right.” 

Misha decided to let him win, not without being sarcastic of course,“Da, is right. Is most threatening person in woods.”

“Exactly.” Ludwig agreed with his statement without caring about the sarcasm.

Misha continued to walk on a small path he had made over the years of walking the woods on his own. Birds could be heard singing in the trees overhead, some were hideous and screechy while others were beautifully composed pieces, although none compared to Ludwig. The only thing that sounded similar was a pair of mourning doves and even then they were lacking something, they had never known the depths of great sadness, the horrendous evils of this world, or the unbelievable highs of being deeply in love. They were simply doves who lived in the forest, what of being human could they know? 

Ludwig spoke softly, as if he was afraid of interrupting the birds songs and other sounds of the forest,“Zhis is lovely, Misha. Thank you, not only for zhis, but for everyzhing else, it means zhe vorld to me.” 

“Welcome, is good you are having nice time.” Misha replied as he was beginning to notice the smaller man was unbelievably soft and seemed to be getting softer the longer he held him. Even the clothing the two of them wore felt rough in comparison. A part of him wondered wondered what the rest of his body felt like, was it nearly as soft as his arms, or could he be even softer? In his distraction he didn’t notice the large stick ahead of him and stepped on it causing a loud crack to echo around the woods.

Suddenly all the birds went silent, it felt as if a million eyes were on Ludwig and he didn’t care for it at all, “I zhink ve should go back now.” He suddenly went rigid as his grip on Misha increased.

“Da, sorry for breaking stick.” Misha turned around and glanced at Ludwig, he looked disturbed. It wasn’t a fitting look on him.

“Zhat’s alright my friend, it vas fun vhile it lasted.” He seemed to shrink as his plumage became stiff.

“Still can have fun.” He decided to bring up something that could calm Ludwig’s nerves, “When we get back would you want another staring contest?” 

Ludwig perked up and saw the cabin coming back into view. It was incredibly relieving along with the prospect of spending more quality time with Misha, he even felt a little excited, “Ja! Zhat sounds like fun... as long as you don’t cheat.”

“Will not cheat.” Misha chuckled and patted him on the head.

“Sure I believe you.” He replied sounding rather suspicious.

“I promise.” He insisted.

“You’re going to have to prove it.” Ludwig teased him, although he was half serious.

“I will.” Misha answered while he opened the door. As they went back inside the bird songs started up again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha 69 kudos


	19. Success

The weather was turning sour, gray angry looking clouds had filled the sky so that meant no more walks in the forest for the foreseeable future. Ludwig didn’t see it as a horrible thing, although it was a bit disappointing to not have a convenient excuse to be held by those strong arms again. However, Ludwig had devised a plan which would benefit him in every way except a little pain. His leg was far from being completely better, but he was sure he would be able to walk with a little help. He just couldn’t seem to find the courage to ask and he had no idea why. Every time he tried to ask he would ruin his words and end up talking about something completely different. He remembered messing up his words with... someone else when they had first met. He actually had similar feelings except this time it was better, nicer even.

Finally Ludwig managed to speak up again and properly make his request, “Misha do you zhink it vould be alright if you could assist me in valking? I zhink I can do it, but it vould be nice if you could support me if I fall.”

“Da, that would be easy.” Misha eagerly offered his hand to help Ludwig up, which was accepted with as much excitement.

“Danke.” He beamed at his companion as stood up. Standing up was a challenge by its self, the pain in his leg intensified with the pressure he added to it. It was clearly acting up again and he should have quit while he was ahead, but his pride got in the way. He winced and leaned closer to Misha, his breathing became faster than before.

“We can stop now.” Misha suggested, using all his self control to not pick Ludwig off the floor right then.

“No I can do zhis... let me take a few steps at least.” 

Misha nodded reluctantly before Ludwig pulled away, still keeping a firm grip on his hand. His few steps could hardly be called that, he was putting at lest half his weight on Misha and his limp was almost making him hop. Soon he had worn himself out and he almost fell, but Misha picked him up.

“Was good start.” He said while patting Ludwig’s head.

“It vas hardly anyzhing and you know it, but I appreciate zhe sentiment.” 

“I am serious, you did very well. You are very strong.”

“Sure I am,” He replied sarcastically before becoming slightly nervous, “Speaking of strength are you going to put me down now?”

“Of course.” Misha became flushed and quickly sat him back down, then he took his place beside him.

“It’s nozhing to be embarrassed about,” Ludwig shrugged and then took a unexpected route of conversation, “I completely understand vhy you like holding me so much now.”

Misha’s eyes nearly popped out of his head, “You do?”

“Ja of course, it’s quite simple actually all it took vas some reasoning.”

“It did?” He felt like he could have a heart attack

“Ja dummkopf,” He teased, “I learned about it in a psychology class, basically it’s a simple zhing called contact comfort,”

Misha had to repress a sigh of relief as he explained the term.

“Humans and a few ozher animals are naturally attracted to soft warm zhings, like let’s say a stuffed animal, blanket, cat, or anozher human in order to calm down. And because I am covered in feathers I am nearly all zhose zhings combined into one so your instincts, especially because you have lived alone for a vhile, are telling you zhat you should hold me and zhings like zhat.” 

“Makes sense.” Misha nodded along with what he was saying, while part of it did make sense he couldn’t help but feel that there was more to it than that.

“So you now zhat you know zhere is nozhing to be vorried about you can hug me anytime you like, just tell me first, alvright?”

“I will.” All this talk of hugs was making him want one and Ludwig noticed immediately.

“You vouldn’t happen to vant a hug now, vould you?” 

“If that is okay.” 

“Of course it is, silly,” He smiled as pulled him into a hug, “I’m your friend, Misha.”

Misha hesitated before holding Ludwig, “Da you are very good friend,” He replied with a sad smile that Ludwig didn’t see.

“I try my best.” He didn’t show it, but he was disappointed about it even when he was the one who offered the explanation. Things were going too well for him to risk anything, and besides receiving ‘platonic’ hugs almost everyday wasn’t bad at all. He had Misha, he had a friend and he wasn’t ready to jeopardize it just yet. His plan had worked, everything benefited the both of them except for a little pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are y’all upset with me yet? Also have a Happy New Year!


	20. A While Longer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the most platonic thing you’ll ever see

Rain poured down outside, occasionally thunder could be heard in the distance, it wasn’t too loud, still it made Ludwig uneasy. He pulled his legs close to his chest as a small whimper escaped him. 

Misha stopped what he was doing immediately, he knew what was bothering him, “Is storm scary?”

“No... vell maybe. I don’t vant to zhink about it.” He winced as a bolt of lightning flashed in the distance.

“Has idea.” He got up and looked around in a few drawers before finding what he was looking for, “When I am upset helps me calm down.” 

Ludwig took the yarn and the hooks, “You crochet?”

“Where do you think blankets came from?” He chuckled. 

“I just didn’t think you would do zhis type of activity. Not that it’s bad, it’s very cute.” He blushed a bit with a meek smile.

“Want to give try? Will help you.” Misha offered kindly.

“Ja but, I can do it myself, it can’t possibly zhat hard.”

Oh but it could be and it was, Ludwig fiddled around with the hooks and couldn’t get a single knot right and every time he was almost there his talons would get tangled in the yarn. Misha tried to guide him a few times and Ludwig would tell him he didn’t need any help as he became more and more frustrated, his feathers began to raise as tears welled up in his eyes. Finally he had enough and threw it down, “Vhy can’t I do this? It should be easy.” He sobbed and covered his face with his hands. 

Misha petted him gently, “Is okay, not easy for everyone.”

Ludwig nodded and hugged him while desperately trying not to cry anymore while Misha loosely held him back, making sure he didn’t scare him.

“Danke.” He sniffed as he snuggled closer, enjoying the comfort and warmth Misha provided.

He nodded as his heart skipped a few beats, even now Ludwig was adorable and he wanted nothing more than to cuddle with him, but he did his best to restrain himself, not wanting to cause him any distress. He thought it was for the best. He didn’t know if Ludwig wanted any more affection at the moment since it could overwhelm him further.

“Does little bird want to try again with help?” 

Ludwig thought about it for a moment and despite wanting to prove how he could do it, he only wanted to be embraced by Misha, “Not at zhe moment, I zhink I vant to stay like zhis for a vhile.” 

“Can still be together and try.” He pulled back a little in order to look Ludwig in his large adorable eyes.

“How vould zhat vork-“ He tensed in surprised when Misha lifted him into his lap, he was turned away from the giant, but his blush was still visible.

Misha was even surprised with himself, I should have more self control than this, he thought as his own face turned pink, “Could help like this if you want.” He mumbled and picked up the barley started messy piece Ludwig had been working on prior to their exchange.

“J-ja, zhat vould be l-lovely.” A nervous chuckle escaped him even as he found himself leaning further into Misha’s lap. He cautiously reached for the hooks that were in the other man’s large hands which closed around his so he could properly guide him.

The Russian could barely stay focused at this point, the feeling of Ludwig’s tail feathers brushing against his thighs even through his thick pants was wonderful as well as holding his hands and guiding their every motion. He wondered if Ludwig felt the same as he did about this, until his thoughts were interrupted.

“Misha, do you zhink I can try on my own now? I believe ve practiced enough.” 

He was surprised to see the blanket they had been working on was at least half way completed. “Da, did not notice how much is finished.” He reluctantly released Ludwig’s hands.

“It’s not a problem, Misha. I enjoy.... collaborating vith you.” Ludwig beamed when he slowly finished the first satisfactory knot on his own. A small peep of excitement escaped him which made him scrunch up with embarrassment. 

“Little bird did it!” He reacted with excitement and pulled Ludwig up into a hug from behind close to his chest without thinking.

He yelped in surprise, dropping the halfway complete blanket as he did so. This wasn’t necessarily an unpleasant feeling, but he felt so powerless it made him feel anxious, “Could y-you please le-let me down?” He whined in a slightly shrill voice.

Misha immediately set him down, “Am sorry, I did not mean to make you worried, was not thinking.”

Normally Ludwig would have scampered to the other side of the room even with his bad led, instead he stayed right in Misha’s lap. It still was comfortable and soothing, just like the hug could have been if it wasn’t for his fear, “It’s alvright, please varn me next time or at least go about it slower.”

“Of course.” Misha replied earnestly, unconsciously beginning to pet the feathers on his head. 

“Danke.” Ludwig sighed and slumped further down, he wouldn’t mind staying this way for a while longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I did give Misha an adorable hobby for no reason. No you cannot stop me.


	21. Missing

“I say we use the pictures and make wanted posters!” Jane nearly shouted out his idea, it was like the man had never been told to shut up.

“We’ve gotta be quiet about this, like she said lads.” Tavish said as he took another swig of beer and belched loudly.

“Fellas, I think it would be best if we asked the admin for the license plate number on that one guy’s van.” Jeremy piped in, but was only met with shaking heads.

“If ya want to do it go ahead-“

“That woman is creepy!” 

“Exactly, Jane.”Tavish agreed before taking another drink.

Jeremy nodded in defeated agreement, but then got a little grin, “Imagine if she got this place bugged and was listening to every word we were sayin.”

The two other men tensed at the suggestion, the short encounter they had with her was enough to scare the life out of them. Not only because of her intimidating demeanor, but she held something against them in order to keep them quiet as well. For Jeremy it was his Mother, but he didn’t know who or what was being held against the others and he wouldn’t dare ask. 

“I’m only kidding guys, she’s crazy, but not that crazy.” Jeremy laughed at the fact he scared the two men.

Jane nodded and Tavish quickly redirected the discussion, “What do you think of these feathers lads? They’re lookin off to me.”

The other two nodded in agreement as they inspected them closer. The feathers were large and oddly shaped, as if they didn’t know how to properly form. 

“No eagle would use these to fly.” Jane murmured.

Tavish and Jeremy agreed and the three of them were startled when the injured dove stirred, desperately trying to get to the odd clump of feathers.

“Do you think we should let it have em?” Tavish suggested, he felt sorry for the poor thing.

“It couldn’t hurt.”

“Permission granted.”

Tavish set the feathers next to the dove. The dove inspected them before neatly stacking them in the middle of the cage. After momentarily calming down the dove kept trying to go into the same direction more persistently than before. He had a theory, he took the cage and walked out side. The others followed and watched curiously. His theory was proven right as she continued to try to go in one direction, northwest. Just in case, he removed the feathers from the cage and the dove took the opportunity in a heartbeat. Apparently she wasn’t as injured as she appeared to be or it was simply sheer determination that kept her flying. Regardless of the answer she was gone and Tavish had lost their one big lead.

“Thanks a lot buddy, you’ve doomed us all.” Jeremy said, as he had been watching the whole thing from afar.

“Maybe not.” He replied, there was a chance the dove was leading them right to what they were looking for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you miss me? Admit it you missed me.


	22. Now You Know

Stress had gotten to him, he didn’t know why, maybe it was all the birds speaking about preparations for fall, a part of him felt he should be leaving, but he couldn’t and it was breaking him. Ludwig sobbed quietly, he was so tired he could barely take it and he knew Misha didn’t have any medication to help him, it probably wouldn’t work anyway. As time went on he cried even harder, not another sleepless night he couldn’t handle it. 

Misha heard him and felt terrible, he turned and tapped his shoulder, “Bad dream?” 

He shuddered and looked back at Misha, “N-no,” He sniffed and whined, “I can’t sl-sleep.” 

“Is okay,” he petted Ludwig’s head,”I have trouble sleeping too.”

“Have you slept once in the past four nights?”

“Yes.”

“Zhen you don’t have as much trouble as me.” Ludwig grumbled and frowned.

“Sorry, can I help?” 

Ludwig looked to the side feeling slightly embarrassed, however he was completely desperate, “Could you hold me? You don’t have to, but for some reason it soothes me.”

“Of course.” He gently pulled Ludwig closer, not wanting to startle him. It took a moment for them to get settled, Ludwig squirmed a bit trying to get comfortable and Misha had to adjust himself without causing him any discomfort. He snuggled closer to Misha’s chest, his eyes ached from tiredness and crying, it hurt to shut them. He whined a little, Misha heard and patted his head to calm him.

“Danke, meine liebe.” He mumbled, nothing other than love was expressed in his tired voice.

“What?” 

Ludwig didn’t respond since he was already asleep. Misha sighed, he didn’t know what Ludwig said, but he was sure it was important.

Although this was very nice, Misha couldn’t help but wonder if this was wrong. Was he in some way taking advantage of Ludwig’s vulnerability? Right then he looked so small and helpless. From everything Misha had seen Ludwig hated being in positions where he felt trapped. How would he feel in the morning when he was more alert? So he reluctantly nudged Ludwig away. He gave him one last pat on the head and then closed his eyes.

Just as he was about to fall asleep he felt Ludwig begin to stir. It was a few twitches at first, but it escalated to him reaching out and clinging back onto him. It made Misha’s heart thunder, this was exactly what he had wanted for sometime now. To be held by Ludwig without him being fearful or upset. Yes, he was sleeping, but something told Misha he would have done that regardless. In a second he made two decisions, one was to hold Ludwig in his arms and the second was to tell him exactly how he felt in the morning.

Ludwig yawned and stretched a bit as he slowly regained consciousness after a full night of sleep, which he hadn’t had in a very long time. He felt so warm and safe at the moment, then he slowly began to realize that he was being held in Misha’s arms. His cheeks flushed bright pink when he saw that he to was holding Misha who was still asleep. He could feel his slow heartbeat up against his own chest. They were so close, too close. It wasn’t a bad feeling, but Ludwig’s feathers prickled nonetheless. 

“Mi-Misha?” He mumbled sounding slightly worried as he slowly pulled away from him.

He grunted softly, his sleep had been disturbed, but he wasn’t fully awake yet. Instead of letting go he pulled Ludwig even closer to his chest and flipped from being on his side to his back.

Ludwig yelped quietly at the shock of it while still finding a way to keep himself calm. He looked down at Misha’s cute face, he looked so adorable and peaceful like this. Ludwig let out a little happy sigh and succumbed to his fate, which really wasn’t terrible. He curled up in Misha’s grasp and cooed softly. Everything was becoming absolutely wonderful to Ludwig and he thought he should thank Misha later until he thought he could do it now. He pushed himself up a little and gave him a gentle sweet kiss on the cheek. 

Even as he rested Misha’s lips curled into a slight smile and his cheeks became a shade of red. Ludwig grinned at the endearing sight and nuzzled close to his face with his head which the top of was covered in feathers. It was very peaceful until Misha sneezed, it which was surprisingly quiet and squeaky, still it startled Ludwig who pulled back sharply.

That was the final straw for Misha’s sleep, his eyes opened to see a slightly alarmed man being confined to his chest with his own arms. “Sorry little bird,” He mumbled groggily as he let go of him, “Did not mean to scare you.”

“Oh I- it’s nozhing to vorry about.” He replied and settled back down on his chest, it was still too comfortable for him to leave, “I am zhe one who is frightened too easily... sorry for vaking you up.” 

“Is nonsense, gave me kiss, I would like to be woken up by that everyday.” He murmured happily.

“You vere avake for zhat!?” Ludwig stiffened while his feathers began to prickle again, he hadn’t thought he was awake then.

“Da, not by much, still was very nice.” He slowly began to stroke Ludwig’s fluffy head.

He only kept looking away from him with wide eyes and tried to process these new developments. He probably shouldn’t be thinking of such things this early in the morning, but he couldn’t stop himself.

“Why are you so worried?” Misha propped himself up a bit before tilting Ludwig’s head up gently so he could look into his eyes who quickly closed them. Misha could feel his little heart thundering in his chest and felt terrible for causing him this much stress, “Is okay, I will not be mad no matter what.”

Ludwig gulped before opening his eyes just enough to glance up at him, “I have somezhing I v-vould like to ask you.” 

“Da?” Misha asked even though he already had his suspicions confirmed about what it was.

“H-how do you f-feel about me?” His voice was filled with nervousness and his body jittered slightly, he kept trying his best to keep himself calm by taking deep breaths.

“Likes you very much.” He thought his answer would suffice, but apparently it didn’t.

“In vhat vay, Misha?” Ludwig trembled with excitement as well as worry, he needed to know for sure.

“Likes you as more than friend.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” Misha grinned at Ludwig who’s cheeks were so flushed it was becoming absolutely adorable, “Can you rest again now that you know?”

“Ja,” He nodded before slowly settling down and curling up on his chest, “Danke.”

“Why are you thanking me? Is only how I feel.”

“Because you are so nice and I-I am still very grateful for zhose feelings...” He hesitated before adding one more thing, “And I really like laying on you like zhis.” He added, sounding slightly embarrassed.

Misha chuckled and wrapped an arm around the bundle of fluff that was snuggled on top of him, “I like this too.”

“Good... I’m glad.” Ludwig yawned and closed his eyes, apparently a full nights sleep wasn’t quite enough for him just yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters at once?!?!? Okay guys real talk, this project is actually pretty big and it’s kinda my fault. At the time I first made this I was not an experienced writer and I’m still not that good, but I’m better than I was. Reading this kinda embarrasses me at times because I know it’s not that good and it can be a little painful because I have an ex who I let way far into my work when we were together. Despite all that I am not going to abandon this project. This helped me grow as a writer and as a person in some ways. And I know that a lot of y’all enjoy this so I don’t want to let you down. I started this project and I owe it to everyone and myself to finish it. Also if there are any errors or anything you guys think I could do to improve the story please tell me. There’s a chance I might do it. Also no you’re not getting more Spook and Mundy yet, they’ll come back into the story eventually, but this story’s main focus is Ludwig so I hope you understand. 
> 
> Sorry for that rambling, but if you read it thank you very much.


End file.
